Everton ’s 1-0 defeat at Watford was dominated by Marco Silva’s return to his former club but as always there were a few moments from the Vicarage Road clash that you may have missed.

Winging it - or not

Richarlison runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Leicester City at Goodison Park on January 1, 2019 (Image: Getty Images)

There have been a number of players who have been in Everton’s right wing position this season without anyone entirely convincing.

Theo Walcott started the 2018-19 season in that position but has found himself out of favour in recent weeks while Ademola Lookman and Bernard have also filled the role - sometimes in the same games.

However for the trip to Watford another candidate was found in the shape of Richarlison .

If playing in a new position wasn’t challenging enough for Marco Silva’s big signing of the summer, he also had to contend with a baying home crowd who at times were just as vociferous in their condemnation of their former player as they were their former manager.

Silva also provided the Watford fans with the opportunity to be even more gleeful when he hooked Richarlison moments after the home side had scored.

Given the rut Everton have got themselves into, Silva cannot be blamed for trying to shake things up with his tactics to try and achieve a different result but this experiment did not prove successful - especially as it saw Gylfi Sigurdsson shunted out to the left to fill in for Richarlison in a function he was crowbarred into more times than you care to remember last term, remaining on the periphery of the action rather than in his favoured number 10 role.

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Cenk Tosun and Gerard Deulofeu challenge for the ball during the match between Watford and Everton (Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

Unlike Silva and Richarlison, the former Watford men in the Everton camp, the two ex-Blues in the home line-up enjoyed considerably easier rides.

Gerard Deulofeu, who of course had two spells with the club, was a popular figure at Goodison Park but despite his rich talents would often flatter to deceive.

This latest display was typical of the one-time Barcelona protégé.

He often looked a threat with his quick feet and dribbling but ultimately produced no end product and was hauled off.

Coming on for Deulofeu when he made way was another Everton alumni, Tom Cleverley .

Another inoffensive non-target for the visiting fans, the midfielder had a largely uneventful time on Merseyside after arriving on a Bosman free transfer and being sold to Watford for a tidy profit.

Although he once scored a last-gasp winner for the Blues at St James’ Park, arguably his greatest contribution to the club was hitting a stoppage time penalty wide for Watford at Goodison Park last season when Everton recovered from 2-0 down to record a 3-2 victory.

That’s the problem though. Watford are a middle-ranking team consisting mostly of Premier League journeymen and man-for-man, Marco Silva’s expensively-assembled side should be considerably better than them.

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Lucas Digne is tackled during the Premier League match between Everton FC and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on January 13, 2019 (Image: Getty Images)

Apart from getting rather angry with both Silva and Richarlison, Watford fans’ pet hate seemed to be Lucas Digne and his throw-ins.

As a full-back, the French international inevitably tends to take a lot of them over the course of a game but with each one he took, the home support appeared to get more and more agitated.

There seemed little wrong with Digne’s throwing action - as just mentioned, his wide position on the pitch ensures he gets plenty of practice - but instead the cause of their ire seemed to be the position of the former Barcelona player’s feet.

Watford’s eagle-eyed sticklers for the laws of the game, claimed that Digne was stepping over the line with his deliveries and became increasingly furious with referee Lee Probert and his officials for not taking action.

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Seamus Coleman is challenged during the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Everton at John Smith's Stadium on January 29, 2019 (Image: Getty Images)

Silva’s team sheet was in many ways as interesting over who was not on the pitch as who was.

For the second game in four days, Seamus Coleman , who has been Everton’s captain for large portions of the season, was left on the bench with Jonjoe Kenny preferred at right-back.

Alongside him was the aforementioned Lookman who, after being left out for Manchester City ’s visit, didn’t get on either.

And despite supposedly being fit, Morgan Schneiderlin did not even make the list of substitutes with Silva instead opting for long-term injury victim James McCarthy who hasn’t kicked a ball for the first team in over a year.

What does that say for Schneiderlin’s future at the club and if indeed he does not have one, who is going to take him on?

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Everton manager Marco Silva gestures on the touchline during the Premier League match at Vicarage Road (Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)

For all the anti-Silva sentiment - toy snakes, slogans on shirts and placards plus various unflattering chants - the most striking sight from the stands at Vicarage Road was a huge banner in rather better taste that was unfurled by the home faithful before kick-off.

Liveried in Watford’s colours of gold and red, the image filled almost the entire Rookery End of the ground where the home side’s most vociferous support are traditionally housed and depicted eight majestically-antlered stags - the county symbol of Hertfordshire (think about it, the county town of Hertford actually comes from Hart ford, meaning a stag crossing a river).

It was a brief but visually spectacular based on love for their own team rather than hatred of someone else.

Of course Hornets fans remain less than enamoured over Everton’s initial approach for Silva in the autumn of 2017 - Blues supporters will surely react in a similar manner if someone had tried to take their manager after less than half a season in charge.

However, given their heritage that Everton and Watford share - the 1984 FA Cup final and their mutual use of the Z-Cars theme - there needn’t be any animosity between the two sets of fans which makes it all the more disconcerting to hear reports of violence after the game.